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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245190">flying headfirst into fate</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/schuylerhamilton/pseuds/schuylerhamilton'>schuylerhamilton</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hamilton - Miranda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kindergarten Teacher!Eliza, School Secretary!Alex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:42:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245190</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/schuylerhamilton/pseuds/schuylerhamilton</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a secretary at King’s Elementary, Alexander Hamilton doesn’t like to waste time. He runs everywhere he goes, until one day, he runs headfirst into the kindergarten teacher.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexander Hamilton &amp; Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton &amp; George Washington, Alexander Hamilton &amp; John Laurens, Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth "Eliza" Schuyler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. one</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Ok, um, I haven’t written fic for these two in a long time, but quarantine was getting to me, and then the filmed version of the play came out, and, well, I was inspired. I finished this whole thing in about a week. Whew.</p><p>Someone’s probably already done a fic with Eliza as a kindergarten teacher, but it’s such a good concept that I couldn’t resist writing about it. Hats off to whoever thought of that concept first, you rock!</p><p>*Obligatory disclaimer that this is a modern au, the characters in this are based off of the characters in the play, and definitely not the real people (because, let’s admit it, they sucked).*</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He didn’t <em>want </em>to be a secretary. He was just a teacher’s assistant. But after Washington decided to step down from his teaching position at King’s College, and became the principal at the elementary school of the same name, he asked Alexander to become his secretary.</p><p><em>A secretary? I don’t think so. </em>He’d laughed when Washington had suggested it. Him, an office secretary at an elementary school? No way. He was too smart for that. He’d surely be losing brain cells if he sat in an office all day, staring up at a clock that was made to look like the fucking sun or something.</p><p>
  <em>Why are you upset?</em>
</p><p><em>I’m not. </em>(He was. Not a lot, but just a little. He really did love his job at the college as Washington’s TA.)</p><p>But he’d accepted it anyway, after a bit of pressure from the new principal. Washington had promised him that the work wouldn’t be hard. He’d be writing letters, sending emails, communicating with teachers when Washington couldn’t. Surely, it wouldn’t be that bad.</p><p>Th elementary school itself was bigger than he’d thought an elementary school would be. King’s was fancy, a school clearly meant for children of well-off or rich parents. Alex’s childhood education had been a bit of a blur, and he’d mostly been homeschooled or briefly put into public school. So, for him to see a different side of education, the elite, <em>private school</em> side… well, it was a bit shocking.</p><p>No, it was <em>really </em>shocking. Really, really shocking. His mouth had dropped open in surprise when Washington showed him to his office, which was right next to the principal’s office and the lobby. Being a secretary, Alex would also be there to unlock the front doors to let students and teachers into the building, make sure that sick kids call their parents and sign out when they weren’t feeling well, and direct guests to their destination.</p><p>And he got a shiny gold name plate to put on his desk, which proudly read <em>Secretary Alexander Hamilton</em>. Hm. Pretty cool.</p><p>Also, there was no ridiculous clock in his office. Just a regular, standard black and white one. Good.</p><p>Since there were only 8 hours in a school day, and oh-so-much to do, by the third week on the job, he’d taken to rushing around. <em>Everywhere.</em></p><p>Alex would skid into his office at 7:30am, holding a piping hot cup of coffee that would surely burn the roof of his mouth, only stopping when Washington peered up from his desk and yelled at him to “Slow down, son!”</p><p>To which Alex would <em>always </em>respond, “<em>Please </em>don’t call me son,” and take a sip of his coffee before contemplating if he should visit the teacher’s lounge later in the day to have another cup. The school’s coffee was terrible, and he knew the teachers complained about it, but he didn’t really mind. As long as it kept him going, he was fine with it.</p><p>Although, honestly, there wasn’t a lot that kept him motivated to keep going at the moment. Despite having a pretty regular schedule, the days seemed to last forever sometimes, and he didn’t really know any of the teachers.</p><p>Yes, he knew their room numbers, their last names, and what grade they taught, but he never took much time to actually interact with them. Not when he had <em>so much </em>to do every day. He’d talked to one or two of them in the teacher’s lounge, but it was just boring conversations about how many days were left until the weekend came, or a stupid story about how a first-grader spilled orange juice on his neatly pressed, white uniform shirt at lunch that day.</p><p>Nothing important or engaging, really. He’d smile and nod, maybe make a clever comment, and then hurry back to his office, because according to Washington, there was a kid who’d just told her teacher that she felt like she was going to throw up, and the nurse was out today.</p><p>He’d sigh, file a few papers, send a few emails, double-check the status on when report cards were due, and wait until Washington called him in to do something.</p><p>Which, today, thankfully, he did.</p><p>“Hamilton.” He heard the principal’s gruff voice call out.</p><p>Alex jumped up from his chair and rushed to Washington’s office, where the man himself held out a tan folder full of papers. A half-eaten sandwich sat on his desk, and Alex realized that he’d forgotten it was lunchtime.</p><p>“Yes, sir?” He stood there like a soldier at attention, waiting for his general’s command.</p><p>“Take this folder to Miss Schuyler. She left it here yesterday, and I guess she forgot to come back and get it. She’s in room 105, Kindergarten.” He handed the folder to Alex and ushered him out.</p><p>The folder itself was really nothing special, just the same tan, cheap file folder that every teacher on planet Earth seemed to use. But it had a cute blue little sticker on the top, in the upper righthand corner, clearly to distinguish it from the other folders.</p><p>Or maybe he was just overthinking this. Washington said she was a kindergarten teacher, so maybe one of the kids put it there.</p><p>Whatever. It was cute, that was all.</p><p>Room 105 wasn’t far from his office at all. It was just down the hall, and the door was on the right. It was covered in that paper art that teachers always seemed to cover their doors with. This particular one was a nice royal blue color, with tiny, colorful handprints all over, and on the top, it read, in letters that were obviously cut out of light blue construction paper: <em>Miss Schuyler’s Kindergarten Class</em>.</p><p><em>Wow. Adorable. </em>He thought, smiling.</p><p>He didn’t think about the poor window that was under the creation in front of him. The thing about covering a whole door in one long sheet of paper was that it covered up the glass window, which made it impossible for a person inside or outside the classroom to see if someone was leaving or coming in.</p><p>So as Alex grabbed the metal doorknob, he hardly realized that someone was pushing the door open. It whacked him in the forehead, and he winced. Sadly, the paper did nothing to cushion the blow of the wood to his head, and he stumbled backwards, falling onto his back.</p><p>“<em>Oof</em>.”</p><p>The folder in his hands went flying, and the papers inside it scattered everywhere, landing in a heap on the floor around him.</p><p>“Oh my god, are you alright?” A voice asked, clear as a bell, as Alex groaned. He squeezed his eyes shut, because his head hurt <em>so</em> <em>bad</em>, and he thought that the hallway seemed to be spinning.</p><p>Washington wasn’t going to be happy with him, not at all. He’d only been here for a month. The school year had practically just started.</p><p>“Yeah, I just—“ He reached for his forehead, and was relieved when he didn’t feel any blood. He sighed. “Sorry, that was so stupid of me, I should’ve knocked—“</p><p>He opened his eyes, blinking slightly under the harsh fluorescent lights. A woman was standing over him, but she quickly knelt down to his level when she noticed he had opened his eyes.</p><p>Alex didn’t know if it was the shock, or the pain, or the fact that he might’ve had a minor concussion, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off of her, not even for a moment. She was beautiful, really, <em>really</em> beautiful, with dark brown hair that she’d probably partially curled that morning, based off of the way the ends of it were cascading down her shoulders, and dark brown eyes that he felt like he’d be able to get lost in if he spent too much time looking at them.</p><p>She was wearing a light blue floral shirt (<em>Damn, she must really like the color blue</em>, he thought) and nice black jeans, but she still managed to seem more overdressed than he did, in his basic white button-up shirt, blue suit jacket, and pressed black dress pants.</p><p>(Washington made him wear the pants. This <em>was </em>a private school, after all. He had to look presentable.)</p><p>She had a laminated name tag pinned to her shirt, which read <em>Miss Schuyler </em>in blue marker, and she was looking at him with a deep level of genuine concern, because.. oh yeah, she’d just whacked him in the head with a door.</p><p>“Schuyler?” He asked weakly, gesturing at the papers and the now-empty folder around him. “Um, these are for you.”</p><p>He tried to smile, but he just winced instead.</p><p>She didn’t answer, and instead started picking up the papers that were scattered everywhere on the tile floor. It was remarkable how quickly she managed to gather them up, her fingers working quickly to clean up the mess, and Alex figured that she probably had a lot of experience cleaning up various messes, since, well, she <em>was </em>a kindergarten teacher, and kids were very messy.</p><p>(<em>No ring</em>, he noted, as she picked up a worksheet that had fallen near him. He had no idea why he’d even thought of that.</p><p>It must be his possible concussion. Yeah. It had to be.)</p><p>Once all the papers were back in the folder, she helped him up (although he did most of the work himself, since she was holding the folder), and quickly ushered him inside her classroom.</p><p>She left him standing in the doorway, and then placed the folder on her desk and started rummaging through a drawer for God knows what. Alex observed her briefly, before staring at the empty classroom.</p><p>The kids were still at lunch, and then they’d go off to recess, but the signs that they were here were not gone. Their tiny desks were messy, and the large rug in the corner had little name tags made of tape stuck to it. There was a rather large, scribbled drawing of a monster on the whiteboard, and one of the dry-erase markers was uncapped. Small backpacks and little jackets were hung up on hooks in little cubbies along one wall, and the desk that Miss Schuyler was currently rummaging through had stickers stuck all over it.</p><p>The room was colorful, which he wasn’t really expecting. Honestly, he’d expected it to be all blue, since that seemed to be her color of choice.</p><p>The sound of the drawer slamming caused him to jump slightly, and he pushed his thoughts away as she presented a small (blue) ice pack to him. He moved to take it, but she gently pushed his hand away and gingerly applied the ice pack to his forehead.</p><p>“You’re going to have a nasty bruise, that’s for sure.” She commented, cringing slightly.</p><p>He sighed. <em>Yeah, it’s going to look bad</em>.</p><p>“Keep it on there,” She told him, removing the ice pack and handing it to him. Alex pressed it to his forehead.</p><p>She turned back to her desk and quickly filed away the folder that he’d brought to her. “You’re the new secretary, right? Washington told me about you.” She mentioned, closing the filing cabinet and turning back to him.</p><p>His eyes widened a bit. <em>He’d told her about me?</em> Alex cleared his throat. “Um, yeah. Alexander Hamilton,” He introduced himself, waving awkwardly. “Everybody just calls me Alex, though.”</p><p>“Oh.” She said, blinking. “Alexander.”</p><p>“Yeah,” He breathed out, trying to ignore the way his heart rate sped up when she said his name. “That’s me.”</p><p>“Well, I’m Eliza.” She introduced herself. “Schuyler,” She finished, shrugging slightly. “But you already knew that.</p><p>“Eliza?” He asked, testing out how the name sounded on his lips. It was a beautiful name. It really suited her.</p><p>“Short for Elizabeth,” Eliza explained, and he nodded.</p><p>“Well, Eliza, if it takes me running into a door for us to meet, it will have been worth it, I hope,” He joked, and she laughed.</p><p>He found himself smiling, too. It was just a joke, but he secretly hoped that his injury really <em>would </em>have been worth it. Eliza Schuyler was amazing.</p><p>“I’ll bring this back at the end of the day.” He said, motioning to the ice pack that he was holding up to his forehead, and she nodded.</p><p>“Looking forward to it,” She replied, shooting him a smile, and Alex swore that he almost <em>skipped </em>out of her classroom after that, forehead pain be damned.</p>
<hr/><p>The next few hours seemed to drag on and on. His forehead wasn’t hurting as much anymore, and he didn’t need the ice pack, but he still kept it within his line of sight on his desk. Washington had looked at him quizzically when he returned to his office with a loopy grin and an ice pack on his forehead, but he hadn’t said anything, thankfully.</p><p>Alex wasn’t sure how eloquent he could make the words “I ran into a door and now I might have a concussion and a crush on a staff member” sound, and he didn’t intend to find out. He stayed quiet about his encounter with Eliza for the rest of the day, and finished his mindless secretarial tasks. He’d initially thought that essentially being Washington’s right hand man would’ve been cool, but the excitement had faded by now. He still wanted to please the principal, though, so he made sure to do his job well.</p><p>His thoughts still drifted to Eliza, though, no matter how hard he tried to focus. She was so patient with him, even when he’d made a mess of all her papers in her folder and had no doubt acted like a dazed, slightly concussed fool. He figured that a person had to be very, <em>very </em>patient if they wanted to work with two dozen kindergarteners, so she was probably <em>very </em>good at her job.</p><p><em>And </em>she said she was looking forward to seeing him again after school got out, so Alex was feeling <em>quite </em>proud of himself today.</p><p>Maybe working here wouldn’t be as bad as he’d initially thought it would be.</p>
<hr/><p>When the final bell rang that afternoon at exactly 3:30pm, Alex let out a sigh of relief. After pushing his rolling chair away from his desk and grabbing the ice pack, he made his way towards Room 105. The hallway was full of kids leaving, and he stepped aside towards the wall to allow them to pass by.</p><p>The sight of that blue door made him shiver, and he realized that he was nervous… to return an ice pack. He was a grown adult! At 30 years of age, Alexander Hamilton prided himself on not having many things to be nervous about. He was rarely nervous, and yet here he was, standing outside of a kindergarten classroom, his heart pounding.</p><p>The number of kids in the hallway was now dwindling, and he felt like now was the right time to knock.</p><p>He stepped up to the door and made sure to knock loudly, before stepping back to avoid being hit by the door again. Sure enough, it swung open, missing him by a considerable amount, and once again, he was staring at Eliza Schuyler.</p><p>“Good job,” She smirked slightly. “Knocking, I mean. And avoiding being hit by the door.” She gestured to the space between him and the door, and he laughed.</p><p>“Your ice pack, as requested,” Alex said, holding out the small blue ice pack. She clapped excitedly, taking it from him.</p><p>“Thank you,” She singsonged, walking over to her desk to return the pack to its drawer. “But, I mean, you could’ve kept it.”</p><p>“No, no, it’s fine.” Alex shrugged. “It’s yours.”</p><p>“Well, yes,” Eliza rummaged through the drawer again. “But, as you probably know, children are very clumsy, so…” She trailed off. “I have a few more.” She held up a handful of identical ice packs, with a deadpan expression on her face, and Alex couldn’t help but let out a “HA!”</p><p>“So you like to be prepared, huh?” He asked, stepping farther into her classroom. He probably shouldn’t be doing this, he thought suddenly. They just met a few hours ago. But… well, there was really no harm in doing so.</p><p>“Mhmm,” She replied, closing the drawer. “How does it look?”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Your head.” Eliza clarified. “Let me see.”</p><p>“Oh, I-“ He started. “Ok.”</p><p>She stepped close to him, brushing her hand up to his forehead and squinting her eyes to investigate. He tried to remain calm, tried not to move or breath or sigh or do <em>anything—</em></p><p>“It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would be,” She announced, and he snorted.</p><p>“Really? That’s a relief,” Alex replied, and she laughed again, stepping away.</p><p>God. Her laugh. What a beautiful sound that was.</p><p>She must’ve seen the look on his face, because she muttered, “Oh, my kids absolutely <em>cannot </em>get wind of this.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” He asked, trying to hide the fact that his face fell.</p><p>“It’s a kindergartener thing,” She replied. “If they find out that I talked to you, they will <em>never </em>shut up about it.”</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>.” Alex’s eyes widened. “Like, they’ll…” He fumbled, trying to find the words to voice what he meant. Luckily, she caught on.</p><p>“Yeah.” She said. “One time, I high-fived Mr. Burr — Aaron, the fourth-grade teacher — after recess, and they would <em>not </em>calm down.” Eliza sighed dramatically. “He and I had to explain to them that adults are allowed to be friends, and Mr. Burr already has a Mrs. Burr.”</p><p>“<em>Ohhh.</em>”</p><p>“They didn’t mean any harm,” Eliza shrugged. “They’re so little. Sometimes, though… they just won’t let things go.” She laughed slightly, and he smiled.</p><p>“Kids will be kids, I guess.” Alex shrugged, and she nodded, raising her eyebrows.</p><p>“Definitely.”</p><p>“I should get going,” He said, moving to leave the classroom.</p><p>“See you around, Alexander.” Eliza told him, and he gave her a quick salute as he walked out the door.</p><p>“You too, Elizabeth.”</p>
<hr/><p>The weekends came and went, and still, Alex thought of Eliza. They didn’t see each other often, only  when she sent one of her students to the office with complaints of a headache or a cold, or when he dropped off a package at her room. Her students didn’t even look up, or steal a second glance, when they interacted, and Alex was thankful for the fact that those kindergartens weren’t crazily obsessed with him.</p><p>Eliza had been right; those kids <em>really </em>had trouble with letting things go.</p><p>There was another thing, though. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, or just making a mountain out of a goddamn molehill, but he’d noticed that they’d begun to have little inside jokes, of sorts, between them. There was a blue post-it note stuck to her door, which read “<em>Remember to knock!</em>“ When he’d seen it, Alex had done the one clever thing that had come to his mind: he’d stuck his <em>own </em>post-it note outside his office.</p><p>“<em>Remember to pick up your things if you leave them in here or in the teacher’s lounge! ;)</em>”</p><p>Was it even funny? Was it flirting? He didn’t think so, and she <em>definitely </em>didn’t think so, he concluded. He really didn’t belong here, at this fancy private elementary school. He was just a secretary, and Washington thought he was good enough for the job. And it paid pretty well, so he stayed.</p><p>But she… she belonged here, he knew. He could tell that working with these kids was her passion. The way her face lit up when she talked about them or worked with them made it so, so clear. She was happy.</p><p>And, as he’d come to find out, private schooling was practically in her blood. He’d recognized the name <em>Schuyler</em>, but he’d never actually put two and two together until he saw her on TV. He was watching some dumb game show one night, when he had nothing better to do, and it was interrupted by the 10 o’clock news. There was a segment about the Schuyler family’s annual dinner and auction to help benefit multiple charities around the city, and his mouth had practically dropped open when he’d seen her standing next to her father, mother, and sisters on screen.</p><p>Philip Schuyler was one of the richest, most prominent men in New York City, and he owned a massive business that aimed to reduce carbon emissions and help the environment. He’d helped install electric scooters around the city, as well as build many parking garages and charging stations for electric vehicles. Pretty much everyone knew his name.</p><p>Alex’s father couldn’t have been more different. He’d abandoned him and his mother when he was young, leaving her to homeschool Alex until he insisted he wanted to go to public school. Alex didn’t even know where his father was now. Probably dead, or in jail, or maybe he’d started another family.</p><p>But, life went on.</p><p>Halloween was rolling around, and Alex still didn’t know who or what he was going to dress up as. Maybe the ham costume from <em>To Kill A Mockingbird</em>, perhaps? But then he remembered that King’s was an elementary school, so the children most likely wouldn’t understand what his costume was or where it was from. And he couldn’t just show up to school that day wearing a plain white shirt that said “Error 404: Costume Not Found”. He’d have to play it safe.</p><p>So, on the morning of October 31<sup>st</sup>, he arrived to work wearing a simple white button down shirt, a black tie, and black pants. Alex rarely wore his glasses, but he’d put them on today.</p><p>He was early (he was <em>always </em>early, being a secretary meant he had to be there before the students were, and he never wanted to get on Washington’s bad side), so he was pleasantly surprised when one Eliza Schuyler walked in the front door, past his desk, and down the hallway towards her classroom.</p><p>It was 7:15am. She usually didn’t arrive till 7:45 (not that he was keeping track of the time, or anything, he <em>swears</em>; most of the teachers arrived at the same time every weekday.)</p><p>He slowly swiveled his chair towards the direction of her classroom and watched as she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Alex could feel Washington’s eyes watching him like a hawk, and he just knew that the principal was staring at him from his office behind him. The other man didn’t say a word, but Alex could still feel his presence. He shivered slightly, tearing his eyes away from the blue paper-colored door and refocusing them on his computer.</p><p>A few minutes later, he was so engrossed in a news article about President John Adams, that fucking asshole, that he didn’t even notice the shadow that had fallen over his desk and computer screen. At first, he’d assumed it was a kid who’d arrived early, or a guest who needed directions, and started to prepare his greeting in his head, when he heard someone clear their throat. Not because they were sick, or whatever (fall was here, and allergies were strong as ever), but because they obviously needed to get his attention.</p><p>“Who are you supposed to be, a character from <em>The Office</em>? Or are you just dressed up as yourself?”</p><p>Alex looked up to see a slightly amused Eliza, who was clearly waiting for an answer. Her long, dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she was wearing a blue dress with a white apron over it.</p><p>“I’m Clark Kent,” He said, like it should’ve been obvious. He tightened his ponytail, loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first three buttons on his shirt, and revealed a faded Superman t-shirt.</p><p>“Oh.” She said, and he wasn’t sure if he was imagining things, but he thought her voice was in a higher pitch. Eliza swallowed. “Well, I’m Belle,” She replied, gesturing to the dress, the apron, and her ponytail.</p><p>He nodded, genuinely interested. It was a good costume. (Plus, it was blue, which was right up her alley, apparently.)</p><p>“We could really use some more guests for our kindergarten Halloween party this afternoon,” She said casually, and he stared at her with his huge brown eyes. “Would you like to come?”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I—“ He stuttered and swallowed. “Sure, that sounds great.”</p><p>He really meant it.</p><p>“Good!” She said excitedly, before leaning to one side so she could see into Washington’s office. “George, there’s a Halloween party in my classroom at 2pm, and you’re invited. Don’t miss it.”</p><p>He couldn’t see the principal’s reaction, but it must’ve been a good one, because Eliza gave him a thumbs up. Alex just sat there, though, mouth almost agape.</p><p>“You call him <em>George</em>?” He said, incredulous. In all the years he’d known Washington, he’d never <em>once </em>called the man by his first name.</p><p>“Yeah,” She said nonchalantly, twirling a strand of hair from her ponytail in-between her fingers. “Don’t you?”</p><p>Alex could only shake his head.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Laurens and Angelica make an appearance!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The party was mostly a success.</p><p>Since kindergarteners, were, well, <em>kindergarteners</em>, and only slightly messy at <em>best</em>, there was quite a lot to clean up after school let out for the day. There was glitter on the floor, a bit of cupcake frosting on the desks, and candy wrappers shoved in cubbies.</p><p>Alex, Washington, and a very reluctant Burr had stayed behind to help Eliza clean up her classroom, and John Laurens, the gym teacher, had popped in for a second to say hello.</p><p>“That was pretty fun,” Eliza told him as she began to put the Halloween-themed arts and crafts back on the shelf in the classroom closet. “I mean, besides the fact that Matthew dropped his cupcake on the floor and then accidentally stepped on it, I think it went pretty well.”</p><p>The poor kid had moved to pick up his treat from the floor, and had ended up stepping on the edge of it instead, causing the frosting to melt into the carpet and coat the edge of his little shoe. He’d wailed, Washington had frozen in shock, and Eliza had sprung into action, trying to clean up the mess while Alex tried his best to calm the kid down.</p><p>He really wasn’t the best with kids, and he didn’t possess the patience or the sheer natural talent that Eliza clearly had, so he’d merely shushed the boy until Eliza could work her magic and make the tears stop.</p><p>“Yeah, I’d say so,” He agreed, placing some leftover craft paper back on a shelf. “But, oh jeez, you handled that <em>so </em>well. Did you see Washington’s face? He looked like a fish out of water.”</p><p>Both of them laughed a little at the mental image of the principal’s shocked face.</p><p>“Hey!” Washington called out, gruff as ever, and they only laughed harder.</p><hr/><p>It wasn’t until the third week of November that Alex <em>truly</em> saw how kindergarteners reacted when they refused to shut up about something. He’d been summoned to Washington’s office and was told that a kindergartener had an appointment in a few minutes, and her mother had requested that Alex pop into the kindergarten classroom, remind her of the appointment, and accompany her during her short journey to the lobby.</p><p>Ok, fine.</p><p>He wasn’t expecting it to take long, or for anything to happen, but when he’d knocked on the door to Room 105 and slowly opened it, all two dozen small pairs of eyes focused on him <em>immediately</em>.</p><p>And then they all opened their mouths.</p><p>“Mr. Hamilton!”</p><p>“We haven’t seen you in <em>soooo </em>long.”</p><p>“Will you read us a story after Miss Schuyler is done teaching us French?”</p><p>He froze.</p><p>Eliza sat in her chair in front of the kindergarteners, obviously in the middle of their French lesson. He could tell that she was trying to stifle a laugh, because her cheeks were bright red and she was shaking with laughter.</p><p>“Ah, um…” He fumbled. How could he say no to these kids?</p><p>How could he say no to <em>her</em>?</p><p>“Sure,” He finished, and the kids’ impressive silence soon turned to cheers and claps.</p><p>Alex stood there, a bit awkwardly, as Eliza helped the girl he was here to collect grab her things. The kids were still staring a him, with that sort of wide-eyed awe that only children seemed to have.</p><p>He’d said a very temporary goodbye, led the girl down the hall, delivered her to her mom, and walked back to Room 105.</p><p>And when he opened the door, the kindergarteners were still waiting, more patiently then they’ve probably ever waited in their lives, he’d figured.</p><p>So he’d clapped his hands excitedly, sat down on the middle of the rug with their names taped to it, and began to read.</p><p><em>Sleeping Beauty </em>was a pretty good choice, he’d thought. It had princesses, fairy godmothers, a prince, a villain, a scary needle, and, of course, a dragon. The children all gathered around, completely engrossed in his storytelling. It was like they didn’t want to move or even breathe, for fear of upsetting the environment that he’d so vividly created.</p><p>They shrieked with fear at the mention of the dragon, and the girls <em>awww</em>’ed and the boys’ noses shriveled up when true love’s kiss was finally bestowed upon Aurora, the sleeping beauty.</p><p>It was amazing.</p><p>It was <em>fun</em>.</p><p>And Eliza simply stood off to the side, not interfering, just watching.</p><p>It was such a great experience that he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as he high-fived all twenty of the kids, moving around the room until at last he high-fived Eliza, and they both blinked.</p><p>Her words, from that day he returned the ice-pack, came rushing back to him.</p><p>
  <em>One time, I high-fived Mr. Burr — Aaron, the fourth-grade teacher — after recess, and they would <strong>not </strong>calm down.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They’re so little. Sometimes, though… they just won’t let things go.</em>
</p><p>She must’ve remembered the same thing, because her eyes widened as their hands separated and came to rest at their sides.</p><p>The kids were all staring at them (because <em>of course </em>they were) and Alex’s only reaction was to take a gigantic step towards the door and  practically shout out, “Well, this was fun! Bye!”</p><p>They began to protest and whine, and Eliza told them that Mr. Hamilton <em>really </em>needed to go, because he had work to do. Alex nodded quickly, but the kids still protested.</p><p>“Hey, I’ll come back another day,” He added, and that seemed to please them, at least for the moment. Eliza nodded, rubbing her hands together.</p><p>She waved as he stepped out the door, and he saluted slightly, shooting her and the children a smile as he left.</p><p>Well. Those kids would certainly talk now, wouldn’t they?</p><hr/><p>They did.</p><p>While walking down the halls, he’d see a group of those kids stop and stare, before bringing their hands up to a friend’s ear to whisper God knows what about him. They were smart, those kindergarteners, but if there was a time that he wished they were maybe a bit more clueless, it would be now.</p><p>The first graders were talking too, apparently, based on the way they’d point and laugh when Alex walked by Room 105. It was harmless, he knew, and he wasn’t <em>bothered </em>by it, but, man, they really did have a hard time letting things go.</p><p>Nothing had changed between him and Eliza after that incident in her classroom that day. They’d talk in the teacher’s lounge, wave hello in the halls, and occasionally send each other emails.</p><p>(He was really working on trying not to rant when he sent said emails to her; everything they discussed was strictly work-related, or were other things that they didn’t have time to talk about in the teacher’s lounge. He’d also gotten into the habit of sending her book recommendations, because why the hell not? They both loved to read, and it just gave them another thing to talk about.</p><p>And, he’d never admit it out loud, but he loved seeing the way her face lit up when he gave her a new book to read.)</p><p>He still read to her kindergarteners, and they loved it. Eliza had complained (jokingly, she assured him, with a hand on his arm that he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about for a week) that the kids didn’t like to hear her read to them anymore. He’d scoffed, saying that they probably loved it when she read them stories. Her voice was beautiful, and he wasn’t sure how anyone wouldn’t enjoy that. She’d smiled, clearly embarrassed, and he’d just grinned.</p><p>If Washington had noticed their blatant flirting, he didn’t say anything. Laurens had walked by one day, taking students outside to play, when he noticed Alex leaving Room 105. He’d simply raised his eyebrows, and pointed at the door.</p><p>It took everything in Alex not to step over and slap him on the arm.</p><p>Her emails to him became less work related, and more focused on what she thought of the books he’d recommended to her. He could picture the way her eyes would light up and her hands would gesture excitedly as she fawned over the plot or the characters, like she was right there in front of him.</p><p>By mid-December, it seemed like the whole school knew about it. <em>Them</em>, or whatever was going on between them.</p><p>“Dude, you need to tell her how you feel.” A slightly amused Laurens whispered to him in the teacher’s lounge. Alex’s eyes widened and he shushed his friend, which only amused John even more.</p><p>“I— I don’t feel anything!” He protested, frowning when Laurens raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“Really? Because you look at her like she’s the eighth fucking wonder of the world, man.”</p><p>“Don’t cuss here.” Alex said, and his friend shrugged. “And I do <em>not </em>look at her like that. We’re just friends, or coworkers, or whatever.”</p><p>“<em>Whatever</em>?” Laurens teased, wiggling his eyebrows, and Alex shoved him. “It’s been, like, four months since you first met her. If this were the 1700s, you two would be <em>engaged </em>already.”</p><p>“You <em>know </em>what I meant.” Alex scoffed. “And we would <em>not.</em>”</p><p>“Ok, ok. Fine.” He bent down to tie his shoe. “Look, I have to teach those fifth-grade kids how to play tennis, but all I’m saying is… well, you spend an awful lot of time in her classroom, bro. And you should see the way she looks at <em>you</em>.”</p><p>His friend ran off, leaving Alex standing in the teacher’s lounge.</p><p>The more he thought about Laurens’ words, the more he realized that they… might be true. It was true that he thought Eliza was awesome, and he <em>did </em>spend quite a lot of time in her classroom (<em>But only because you read to her students! </em>A little voice in his head protested), but, well, she’d never think of him in the same way that he thought of her, right?</p><p>To him, Eliza Schuyler was amazingly smart, patient, kind… everything a good teacher should be.</p><p>And he… he was just some poor school secretary at one of the best schools in the state, with no parents and only a small amount money to his name. He was just Washington’s right hand man. She was the daughter of <em>Philip Schuyler</em>.</p><p>Even if he wanted this <em>thing </em>between them to work out, it probably wouldn’t.</p><hr/><p>If there was anything that Alex had learned in the part three months, it was that kindergarteners were <em>quite </em>persuasive. He’d been roped into going to their Thanksgiving party, had been invited to their kindergarten play (<em>play </em>was a bit generous; it was more like a <em>skit</em>), and, of course, continued to read to them when they asked.</p><p>They asked a lot.</p><p>He and Eliza continued to email when they couldn’t see each other, and slowly, the emails became less work-related and were instead filled with more book recommendations, school gossip, and the occasional reminder to stay away from doors while they were opening.</p><p>He told her about his plan to teach law, and how he’d given that up to continue to work with Washington when he became principal. She told him that she’d known the Washingtons for a few years, since they’d attended her family’s functions. (She’d told him more about her family, too, and he pretended like he didn’t already know who she was, like he didn’t see that annual Schuyler family charity auction on TV that one night.)</p><p>He held off on discussing his family over email, fearing it was a bit <em>too </em>personal, and that she’d probably appreciate it more if he told her in person.</p><p>More than once, he considered telling her how he felt about her, but backed off.</p><p>She’d never feel the same, right?</p><p>Christmas was fast approaching, and the King’s Elementary Parent Association had put together a party for the teachers and staff, and their families. Alex knew that the teachers had been working hard to get all their students’ grades submitted and their report cards finalized before the holiday break, so they all desperately needed a little celebration.</p><p>He’d walked into the library that afternoon, after school had let out, to find it covered with Christmas decorations. There were paper snowflakes and mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, and a few small, plastic trees, with little lightbulbs and ornaments hanging from the branches, were placed in the corners of the library.</p><p>The faculty, staff, and a few family members had begun to trickle in to the library at around 4:30pm. Alex sipped on some store-bought punch and looked suspiciously at the cookies, which seemed to be made up of more disgustingly-sweet frosting than actual cookie. He’d muttered that comment out loud, and was met by Aaron Burr’s disapproving stare.</p><p>They’d never really gotten along, him and Aaron. They were colleagues, but they <em>definitely </em>weren’t friends.</p><p>Alex was just forcing himself to try a cookie when he heard the library door swing open again.</p><p>“Dude,” He heard Laurens mutter beside him. “I know this is a school function, but you’ve <em>gotta </em>hit that. Or at least ask her out, I don’t know.”</p><p>He looked up to see not only Eliza, who looked gorgeous and radiant in her red, velvety dress (So she <em>did </em>own an outfit in a color that wasn’t blue!), but also one of her sisters walk into the room. He assumed she was the oldest sister, based on her dominating presence and her seemingly rehearsed <em>“don’t fuck with me” </em>face.</p><p>He decided to ignore John’s suggestion and instead headed over to Eliza’s sister, before remembering that small talk was <em>really </em>not his thing.</p><p>“Hi,” He said awkwardly, waving.</p><p>“Hello,” She replied, her voice cool.</p><p>“I like your sweater,” Alex gestured to her sweater, which was red, with a Christmas tree in the middle of it. “I, um, I assume you don’t actually work here? I’m Alexander Hamilton, the school secretary.” He held out his hand for her to shake, and she did, a small smile forming on her face.</p><p>“I’m Angelica Schuyler,” She responded, and his eyes widened slightly. He knew who she was, had seen her on TV during her father’s huge charity auction, and had heard Eliza mention her, but it was one thing to see someone on TV and <em>another</em> thing to actually see them in person.</p><p>“So, um, do you work… for your father?” He asked, swallowing. His eyes landed on Eliza, who was talking to Washington’s wife on the other side of the room. He couldn’t hear them over the festive music playing in the background, but it seemed like both women were enjoying themselves.</p><p>“Yes.” She responded, her voice suddenly just as cool and emotionless as it had been a few seconds prior. Her eyes had also landed on Eliza, and she quickly refocused her attention back on him. “We don’t really need to talk about the family business, though. I think there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”</p><p>And then she was leading him over to Eliza, and he didn’t even have time to protest, to say that he already knew her, because Angelica was saying something about how she’s about to change his life (oh, if only she knew how much his life had already changed because of her younger sister), and Eliza was suddenly standing in front of him, with that huge, bright smile of hers on her face, and he swore he almost <em>melted</em>.</p><p>“Alexander,” Angelica said, “This is—“</p><p>“Your sister.” He finished, and she blinked, surprised. “We already know each other.” He explained, shuffling slightly while Eliza nodded.</p><p>“Oh.” Angelica said, her voice slightly flat. “Well, I’ll leave you to it.”</p><p>Once they were alone (or as alone as two people could possibly be, during a school party), Eliza took a sip of her punch, made a slightly disgusted face, and turned to him.</p><p>“So,” She began, looking around the room. “What have you been up to lately?”</p><p>“Nothing much.” Alex shrugged. “Just trying to avoid the mistletoe around here,” He commented, and she chuckled.</p><p>For all he knew, in a few minutes Laurens would be walking around with that little plant attached to a string, waving it in front of his face.</p><p>“And avoiding getting set up by a friend.” He finished, slightly awkward.</p><p>“<em>Ohhh.</em>” Eliza replied, cringing slightly. “My sisters tried to do that to me once. He was really rich, but he just wasn’t all that nice. I think… I think I’d like somebody who’s nice, you know?” She said, turning to him.</p><p>He nodded, unable to say anything.</p><p>Alex knew that if he opened his mouth right now, he’d probably never stop talking. He’d word-vomit all over her, and she’d probably never talk to him again.</p><p>Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her eyes flick over his face, slightly concerned as to why he’d suddenly stop talking.</p><p>“Lost for words?” She asked, and he faltered.</p><p>“Y-yeah, I mean— no,” He stuttered, closing his eyes for a moment and pinching the bridge of his nose.</p><p>Oh, geez. He was going to ramble, <em>right now</em>.</p><p>And just like that, during a school Christmas party, elementary school secretary Alexander Hamilton (very messily) confessed his feelings for kindergarten teacher Elizabeth Schuyler.</p><p>“I mean, look, there’s this girl, you know? And I, like, practically just met her, but I think she’s… she’s perfect. Like, she’s an angel. She’s so nice, which I know that’s what you <em>just </em>said you want in a person, and I think I want that, too, because she’s so smart, <em>so, </em>so smart, and caring, and I— I think I like her. A lot.”</p><p>The words tumbled out of his mouth before he had the chance to stop them, or regret opening his mouth in the first place, and he straightened up a little, shrugged, and said, “So. Yeah.”</p><p>She was staring at him, he could tell that her brown eyes were boring a hole into the side of his head as he stared at the bookshelf in front of him.</p><p>“Well. Not lost for words at all, huh?” Eliza broke the silence, but Alex didn’t really register what she was saying until she opened her mouth again. “You can go talk to my sister, Alexander. I won’t mind.”</p><p>Her voice sounded kind of tinny, and far away, and he realized that she’d completely misunderstood what he’d meant.</p><p>“<em>Oh</em>.” He turned to look at her, head shaking slightly. “Eliza, that’s not…”</p><p>“What?” She titled her head to one side, clearly confused.</p><p>“It’s not Angelica,” He said, feeling slightly nervous. “It’s you.”</p><p>She just stared at him, and he realized that he actually had no idea what she was thinking. He’d come to anticipate her reactions to his emails, or his book recommendations, or his almost daily visits to her classroom. But he couldn’t tell what she was thinking at the moment.</p><p>He watched as she opened her mouth, then closed it, and set the plastic cup full of punch on the bookshelf in front of them.</p><p>“I think,” She said finally. “I think I need some time to think about this. <em>Us</em>.” She gestured to the space in between them.</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>Well. This <em>definitely </em>did not go the way he thought it would.</p><p>“This isn’t a bad thing, ok?” Eliza reassured him, a bit nervously. “I just— I don’t think a school Christmas party is the best place to talk about this.”</p><p>“That’s fair.” His own voice sounded foreign to his ears. He didn’t exactly <em>regret </em>doing this, but he also didn’t fully appreciate the fact that his mouth had decided to open at that very moment.</p><p>“Look,” She said, kind and collected as ever. “Christmas isn’t for another week and a half. How about… how about we go somewhere and talk?”</p><p>“Wait, <em>what</em>?” Alex sputtered. “Are you…”</p><p>Was Eliza Schuyler asking him on a <em>date</em>? After he’d practically made a fool of himself while confessing his feelings for her?</p><p>“No!” She said hurriedly, her face turning as red as her dress. “This is just… so we can get to know each other better outside of our work environment.”</p><p>Damn, she was smart.</p><p>(And right. She was always right.)</p><p>He nodded, and suddenly she was saying something about this really nice Italian place that she went to once, and he’d probably like it, and does next Friday sound good?</p><p>He just nodded again, and she clapped excitedly, and so that was it. Alexander Hamilton would be going on a completely friendly, non-date with Eliza Schuyler in one week.</p><p>Alex had walked out of the library with a spring in his step, and Laurens looked at him like he’d grown another head.</p><p>“Dude,” He whispered to Alex as they approached the parking lot, coats pulled tightly around their bodies. “What the fuck happened in there?”</p><p>“We just talked.” The secretary replied. “And then we decided to talk some more, ‘outside of our work environment’.” He quoted, and Laurens’ mouth formed a massive <em>O</em>.</p><p>“You’re going on a date with her.”</p><p>“I am <em>not</em>. We both made that explicitly clear.” Alex muttered. “We’re just <em>talking</em>.”</p><p>“About <em>what</em>?” His friend asked, raising an eyebrow. Alex didn’t respond.</p><p>He sighed and shoved his hands in his coat pockets. “She just wants us to get to know each other better. <em>Outside of our work environment</em>.” He finished, glaring at Laurens’ giddy smile.</p><p>“Where are you going?” Laurens asked, his voice filled with something that Alex probably thought was <em>glee</em>.</p><p>“Some Italian place,” He shrugged. “It’s called Marea, or something like that. I think she mentioned it was near Central Park.”</p><p>His friend’s eyeballs practically rolled into the back of his head. “Holy <em>shit</em>, Hammy. That place has a fuckin’ <em>Michelin Star</em>.”</p><p>Alex decided to ignore the nickname. “Do you even know what a Michelin Star <em>is</em>?”</p><p>“Well, not really, but the point is, it’s fancy. Like, <em>really </em>fancy.” Laurens exaggerated, his eyes almost popping out of his head at this point.</p><p>“Ok.” Alex said calmly. “And?”</p><p>“<em>And</em>?” His friend raised his eyebrows. “<em>And</em>?! Dude, this isn’t a friendly meeting, or whatever the fuck you want to call it, this is a <em>date.</em>”</p><p>“It’s not.”</p><p>“Yes! Yes, it is!” Laurens hissed, jumping up and down slightly. “That is <em>absolutely </em>a date. Bro, you’ve been played.”</p><p>Alex sighed. “No, I don’t think—“</p><p>“What did she say to you?” Laurens demanded, his ridiculous smile reaching his eyes. “Tell me <em>exactly </em>what she said.”</p><p>“Well, uh, I kinda went off on a tangent about how amazing and beautiful and smart she is, and she thought I was talking about her sister.” He explained, and his friend cringed slightly. “And then I told her I was talking about <em>her</em>, and she kinda got really quiet and said that she needed some time to think.”</p><p>“About?” Laurens questioned, clearly not wanting Alex to beat around the bush.</p><p>“Us.” He swallowed, and Laurens’ mouth formed that ridiculously huge <em>O </em>again. “She said we could talk somewhere else, and then she suggested going to Marea next week.”</p><p>“Yeah. Yeah, that’s a date.” Laurens nodded. “Dude, she’s practically leading you on. You’re going to walk out of that fancy ass restaurant next week with a <em>very </em>unofficial girlfriend.”</p><p>Alex could only stare.</p><p>He watched as his friend got into his car and left, leaving him alone in the parking lot, with only the shitty fluorescent lights blinking in the darkness all around him. He couldn’t see the stars, but he imagined that they, too, were blinking and shining in the darkness.</p><p>He sighed and walked to his car.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The dress that Eliza wears is that red one that Pippa wore on the Today Show in 2015 or 2016, iirc.</p><p>Comments and kudos make my day!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for not updating for a few days, I was busy! (and also thoroughly amused by the “Helpless” draft that’s been making the rounds on social media.... HUEEEYYYYY WE WERE MARRIED THAT NIIIIGHT!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next week, Alex was nervous. On Thursday afternoon, being mindful of the time difference, he hurriedly called his old friend Lafayette, who lived in Paris.</p><p>“Hey, man,” He said weakly.</p><p>“<em>Salut, mon ami</em>,” His friend responded. “What can I do for you tonight?”</p><p>“Look, um,” Alex pinched the bridge of his nose. “What exactly does a person wear to a Michelin Star restaurant?”</p><p>“A <em>suit</em>, Alexander.” Lafayette said, like he went to Michelin Star restaurants all the time. Which… well, he probably did. “No jeans, just dress pants. Button up your suit jacket.”</p><p>“Ok, yeah.” He nodded. “Thanks.”</p><p>Just as he went to hang up, his friend asked, “Wait, what’s this for?”</p><p>“Nothing, really.” Alex responded, shrugging as he turned to look at his closet. “Just a meeting.”</p><hr/><p>They’d both agreed to meet outside the restaurant at 6pm. It was currently 5:55pm, and Alex was sure that he was going to faint. Or die.</p><p>Or maybe both, in that exact order.</p><p>He was scanning the street in front of him for any sign of her, and was nervously tapping his feet on the pavement. His dress shoes hit the cement with a neat <em>click</em> every time they made contact, and he let out a nervous breath.</p><p>Oh, man. He was really going on an unofficial date, or a very friendly <em>non-date</em>, with Elizabeth Schuyler. In just a few minutes.</p><p>He continued to tap his feet and casually checked his watch, which informed him that it was 5:58 pm. She’d gotten them a reservation (<em>Just to be safe! </em>She’d told him), and John’s words echoed in his mind.</p><p>
  <em>She’s practically leading you on. You’re going to walk out of that fancy ass restaurant next week with a <strong>very </strong>unofficial girlfriend.</em>
</p><p>“Alex!”</p><p>He looked up and his eyes practically popped out of his head. Eliza was walking toward him, waving enthusiastically. Under her coat, she was wearing a cream-colored dress with small, black embroidered flowers all over it, and was wearing simple black heels that probably cost a fortune, despite looking so plain.</p><p>He internally thanked Lafayette and whatever God was up there that he’d decided to wear a simple white button down shirt, black dress pants, and a black suit jacket.</p><p>“Hi.” He said, a genuine smile slowly spreading across his face.</p><p>“Hello,” She responded, a bright smile on her face.</p><p>Nothing had changed, at least from what he’d noticed. So far, this was significantly less awkward than he’d anticipated it to be.</p><p>They turned towards the entrance, her hand jutting out and coming to a stop on his upper arm as she jokingly told him to “Mind the door.” They both laughed a bit at that, and he felt nervousness crawling up his throat.</p><p>Alex had to tell her about his upbringing, how his father had left him and his mother had died and he truly had no idea where his brother was. He could only hope and pray that she wouldn’t look at him any differently.</p><p>He had to tell her tonight.</p><p>The restaurant was beautiful, with sleek white walls and round tables with extremely comfortable chairs. He remembered that she’d told him that she’d been here before, and just by looking at it, he could tell that this was the type of restaurant she would like. It was fancy, and definitely not a place he’d go to often, or even at all.</p><p>After they sat down, Eliza spent some time telling him about the book she was currently reading, which was <em>All The Light We Cannot See, </em>by Anthony Doerr. It was set during World War II, in France, she’d explained, and followed a few different people whose lives were brought together by a simple radio. He’d heard of it before, but hadn’t had the time to read it yet. However, it sounded fascinating, and he thanked her for the recommendation.</p><p>About halfway through their meal, he noticed that the conversation had turned serious.</p><p>“So, I’ve been thinking—“ Eliza said, at the same time that Alex blurted out, “Look, I have something to tell you.”</p><p>“You go first.” She told him, setting down her fork and looking at him.</p><p>“Ok.” He swallowed. “Um, obviously you’ve told me about your family, and I’ve met your sister. But, well, I’ve never told you about mine.”</p><p>Alex launched into the tale, noticing the way her eyes were full of genuine concern as he explained that his father left when he was young, that he’d grown up being homeschooled by his mother, and then eventually put into public school. That she’d died of cancer when he was still barely twelve, and it’d been up to his older brother, and then his cousin, to take care of him. And, despite all that, he’d been smart enough to get a full-ride scholarship to King’s College, and he’d studied law before becoming Washington’s teacher assistant.</p><p>And then, of course, he’d ended up becoming the secretary at King’s Elementary.</p><p>Time passed, maybe a few minutes or maybe an hour, he didn’t know. By the end, he was struggling to fight back a few tears, and he didn’t know when she’d reached over to take his hand, but it felt like it was burning.</p><p>“<em>Alexander</em>,” She breathed, squeezing his hand gently. Over the past few months, he’d come to realize that Eliza was clearly an empath, and right now, it was quite obvious. She was so incredibly patient and caring. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>“No, no,” He blinked back some tears. “You don’t— you don’t need to be sorry for me. I, um, maybe I should’ve told you all this earlier.”</p><p>“No, it’s okay.” She said quietly. “I think now was the right time.” She gave him a weak, but understanding, smile, and turned her head to the window, taking a deep breath as she watched a few cars drive by.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking,” Eliza began again, turning her attention back to him. “About what you said last week.”</p><p>Alex nodded, mentally preparing himself for what she was about to say. Would she reject him, now that he’d told her that he was basically a nobody?</p><p>“And, um,” She looked down at their hands, which were still clasped together. “I feel… the same way.”</p><p>“You… <em>do</em>?” He asked, incredulous. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Even… even after everything I just told you?”</p><p>Eliza’s brow furrowed momentarily and she tilted her head to the side. “Yes,” She said, like it was obvious. “Alex, I <em>really </em>like you. I don’t think anything is going to change that.”</p><p>He tried to hide his shock and his grin, but failed.</p><p>Eliza paid, despite his protests (and said <em>You can pay next time</em>, which almost made his heart fucking <em>flutter</em>), and they exchanged numbers and made plans for a first (second) date. Not a <em>non</em>-<em>date</em>, not a <em>meeting</em>, but a real, actual date.</p><p>He kissed her hand when they parted ways on the sidewalk, and practically <em>skipped </em>down the street back to his apartment.</p><hr/><p>Alex called Laurens the second he closed his front door, almost rocking back and forth from excitement. When his friend answered the phone, Alex’s first instinct was to let out an excited “<em>Ahhhh!</em>”</p><p>“Aren’t I supposed the crazy one?” Laurens complained. “It’s like our roles have been reversed. Dude, are you drunk?”</p><p>“Drunk on <em>love</em>, Johnny,” He responded, and his friend let out a groan.</p><p>“Jesus, I barely have any experience being rational. That’s normally <em>your </em>job. How the hell am I supposed to do this?” John sighed. “So, I’m assuming it went well? Hurry up and get to the good parts, I wanna know if you’ve kissed her yet.”</p><p>“Only her hand,” Alex said, smiling, and his friend made a noise that he could hear through the phone.</p><p>“Oh, jeez. Alex, when I told you about relationships in the 1700s, I didn’t mean for you to take it so seriously!” Laurens groaned. “God, you two are going to be absolutely <em>disgusting </em>together. I hope Washington doesn’t find out about this, or else he’s going to make the both of you stand six feet apart. Like, you both work with <em>children</em>, remember?”</p><p>Alex sighed. “<em>Yes</em>, I know. Calm down, we don’t even see each other that much.”</p><p>“Uh, you’ve visited her classroom almost every day for the past four months, bro. You see each other a <em>lot</em>.”</p><p>“Okay, okay, fine. Maybe we do.”</p><p>“So, what happened?” Laurens pressed. “Did your hands meet while reaching for breadsticks and then she was like, <em>Oh, Alexander, you’re so hot,” </em>He mimicked Eliza’s voice, and Alex snorted. “Or did you, like, propose to her? Give me the details.”</p><p>“Both of those things did <em>not </em>happen, man.” Alex rolled his eyes. “It was just a mutual acknowledgement of our feelings for one another, and then we agreed to actually go on a date. A second date, I guess.”</p><p>He could hear the sound of Laurens clapping excitedly over the phone. “Oh my god, when did you become so <em>professional</em>? Am I actually talking to Alexander Hamilton right now, or has he been replaced? Also, I was right. That was <em>definitely </em>a date.” He sounded smug.</p><p>“Yeah, you were right, for <em>once.</em> Don’t let it go to your head.” Alex warned. “I can’t believe you’re so invested in my love life. You sound like a teenage girl.”</p><p>“Just happy for you, man, that’s all!”</p><p>“Okay, thanks. G’night.” He moved to press the <em>End Call </em>button, but his friend’s voice continued to filter through his phone’s speakers.</p><p>“Oooh, wait, did you get her number?”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>, I did. Now, good<em>night</em>.” He ended the call, flopped down on his couch, and finally let the events of past few hours hit him.</p><p>Holy <em>shit</em>. He’d just went on a date with Elizabeth Schuyler. And he’d go on at <em>least </em>one more.</p><p>Well, talk about a great pre-Christmas present.</p><hr/><p>
  <strong>Alex: </strong>
  <em>Hey, how does a walk in Central Park sound? There’s an ice skating rink there too, if you’re interested.</em>
</p><p>Alex pressed <em>Send </em>and waited. It was a week and a half after Christmas, and school resumed in just a few days. He hadn’t seen her since their first (unofficial) date, because she’d headed up to Albany to spend time with her family during the holidays.</p><p><strong>Eliza</strong>: <em>That sounds good! I’ll stick to walking, though, I don’t think skating is my thing </em><em>J</em></p><p>
  <strong>Alex: </strong>
  <em>Great! I’ll meet you by the pond in an hour?</em>
  
</p><p>
  <strong>Eliza: </strong>
  <em>Ok! See you there</em>
</p><p>An hour later, Alex was standing near Central Park’s pond, waiting for Eliza. He shivered slightly, pulling his black coat a little bit tighter around him.</p><p>Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around, and Eliza was standing there, giggling softly as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her royal blue coat.</p><p>“You forgot to check behind you,” She told him, and he nodded.</p><p>“Yep, I realize that now.” He commented, smiling and rubbing his cold hands together and pushing them into his coat pockets.</p><p>“How was your Christmas?” She asked him, as they began to walk, being mindful of any ice that might’ve been on the sidewalk.</p><p>(He really didn’t want to slip and fall. He’d already made a fool of himself in front of her, and he didn’t exactly want to do that again.)</p><p>“It was ok,” He replied. He’d spent it alone, same as always. It was just him, the shitty fake tree in the corner of his small living room, and his old <em>White Christmas </em>DVD playing on the TV.</p><p>“You were alone, weren’t you?” Eliza asked, watching him carefully as he chewed on his bottom lip.</p><p>Oh, man. She knew him so well, it was almost <em>scary</em>. She could read him like a book, cracking him open and learning about his likes and dislikes and his little quirks and everything that made Alex <em>Alexander Hamilton.</em></p><p>He didn’t think anyone had ever been able to read him that easily, if he was being honest.</p><p>“Yes,” Alex sighed. “Was Albany nice? I’ve never been there.”</p><p>“As nice as it could possibly be, in this kind of cold weather.” She shrugged. “It got kind of boring after a while, if you can believe it. I actually can’t wait for school to start up again.”</p><p>The mention of <em>school </em>made him blink. “Hey, um… what are we going to <em>do </em>at school? Like, should we just behave normally?”</p><p>“<em>Yes</em>,” Eliza replied, taking a hand out of her coat pocket and wrapping her arm around his before stuffing her hand back into her pocket. “I mean, nobody really knows, right? There have been some rumors, obviously you and I both know that by now, but nobody actually <em>knows </em>we’re dating.”</p><p>Alex thought back to his conversations with Laurens. “Uh, Laurens might’ve figured it out, but we can just avoid him, right?” He wasn’t all that interested in getting confronted by his friend in the teacher’s lounge.</p><p>“Yeah,” She said. “So, teacher’s lounge is off-limits when Laurens is in there, we should <em>probably </em>tell Washington about this <em>thing</em>—“ She gestured between them. “—first, and…” Eliza thought for a moment. “You’re free to visit my classroom whenever you want. The kids already love you.”</p><p>He stared at her for a moment, incredulous. “Did you think of all this on your drive back from Albany?” He asked, and she nodded, giggling slightly.</p><p>“Yes,” She said, like it was the most natural thing in the world to be thinking of all possible scenarios on how to slowly integrate a new relationship into the workplace while driving away from one’s huge family home. “Why wouldn’t I?”</p><p>He grabbed her hand and kissed it.</p><hr/><p>They <em>did </em>tell Washington first.</p><p>After successfully avoiding Laurens for a whole week after school was back in session for the spring semester, Alex politely knocked on the principal’s door one morning before school. He’d arrived early, went to the teacher’s lounge to make a shitty cup of coffee, kissed Eliza briefly while the door was shut and they were alone, then promptly headed to the lobby area again.</p><p>“Hi, sir.” Alex poked his head into Washington’s office as the man himself looked up, a look of surprise fleeting over his features.</p><p>“Hamilton. What can I do for you?” He asked, slightly intimidating.</p><p>The younger man swallowed. “Nothing, really, I just need to speak with you about—“</p><p>His sentence was cut off as Eliza gently squeezed past him, holding a (his) black coffee cup, the one that read <em>Hard work never killed anyone, but why take a chance? </em>in white letters. She’d clearly stolen it from his desk on the way in, because of <em>course </em>she did.</p><p>“Hi, George,” She singsonged, sitting down in one of two chairs that were placed in front of Washington’s desk.</p><p>He gave her a curt nod, then said, “Ah, Eliza, can this wait? Hamilton and I were just talking.”</p><p>She flashed him a close-lipped smile, the one that she’d told Alex she always gave parents during parent-teacher conferences. “We’re here for the same thing,” She explained, looking back to Alex and motioning for him to sit down. He did.</p><p>The principal seemed oblivious to the reason why they were both here, and sat in silence, waiting for one of them to say something.</p><p>Alex decided to start, “So, um, we were wondering what your stance or policy is on—“</p><p>Eliza, of course, decided to cut to the chase, rather than dumping a verbal essay onto Washington’s lap. “Alexander and I are dating,” She said hurriedly, causing Alex’s face to turn a deep shade of red and causing Washington to blink.</p><p>“<em>Oh.</em>” He said finally, eyeing the coffee cup that was sitting on his desk, in front of Eliza’s chair. “Well. That’s… nice.”</p><p>Alex smiled weakly as he waited for the principal’s response. “Is there, um, anything we should… do?” He asked nervously.</p><p>“Keep it professional,” Washington replied, stern. Eliza nodded, taking that as her cue to leave. She grabbed the coffee cup, stood up and patted Alex’s shoulder lightly, and left, but not before she turned around and stage-whispered a slightly embarrassed “Thank you,” to the principal.</p><p>Alex nodded, thanking Washington too, and stood up to leave. As he reached the office door, he heard Washington call out, “Hamilton?”</p><p>“Yes, sir?”</p><p>“I’m happy for you, son.” He said, keeping his voice quiet. “If there’s anyone who could possibly get you to slow down, it would be her.”</p><p>Alex could only smile at that. His boss had a point.</p><hr/><p>At school, everything was mostly the same.</p><p>They did as Washington requested and kept things strictly professional (at least when there were children around) and resorted to friendly waves in the hallways and high-fives when he visited her classroom.</p><p>To an outsider, nothing seemed to have changed between the kindergarten teacher and the school secretary. They were friends, that was all.</p><p>The rest of the staff had caught on pretty quickly, due to the fact that Laurens absolutely could <em>not </em>refrain from opening his mouth most of the time. When Eliza had dropped off her kindergarteners for gym class one day, he’d sneakily asked her if she’d seen her “special friend” lately, and it took everything in her not to glare at him.</p><p>Alex had laughed when she’d told him, but his smile soon disappeared at the thought of Laurens saying something like that to <em>him</em>.</p><p>So, while everything seemed normal at school, that couldn’t be further from the truth at their respective apartments.</p><p>By the end of February, after they’d been together for two months, she’d given him a key to her apartment. It was significantly nicer than his, obviously, but it was still so <em>Eliza</em>. Everything was neat, and minimalist, and there were plants in the corners and (blue) paintings on the walls, and he liked it. His apartment was almost the opposite. It was small, and very messy, and there were books everywhere and the walls were a weird tan color, but she liked it, she’d told him. The couch was comfortable and she’d learned that he usually kept quiet about his love for old movie musicals, those ones from the fifties. They’d watched <em>An American in Paris </em>together, and before she’d gone back to her apartment for the night, Alex had discovered some of George Gershwin’s other music and had sung an off-key, but still sweet, rendition of <em>Liza</em>.</p><p>The next day, he’d whistled it in the hallway when he passed by her classroom.</p><hr/><p>
  <em>Moon shinin' on the river come along, my Liza</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Breeze singin' through the treetops come along, my Liza</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Somethin' mighty sweet I want to whisper sweet and low</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That you ought to know, my Liza</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>I get lonesome, honey, when I'm alone so long</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don't make me wait, don't hesitate, come and hear my song</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Liza, Liza, skies are gray</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But if you smile on me all the clouds'll roll away</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Liza, Liza, don't delay</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Come, keep me company, and the clouds'll roll away</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>See the honeymoon a-shinin' down</em>
</p><p>
  <em>We should make a date with Parson Brown<br/></em>
  
</p><p>
  <em>So, Liza, Liza, name the day when you'll belong to me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All the clouds'll roll away</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Liza, Liza, name the day when you'll belong to me</em>
</p><p>
  <em>All the clouds'll roll away</em>
</p><hr/><p>“What’s your thing with blue?” He asked her one day, while they were both alone and hurriedly eating lunch in the teacher’s lounge. He gestured to her blue blazer, which she’d temporarily abandoned on the back of one of the chairs.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Eliza asked, head cocking slightly to one side as she gazed at him with her brown eyes. She stabbed at a leaf of her salad with her fork and sniffed slightly. Allergies were the <em>worst</em>.</p><p>“Like, why do you like it so much?” He asked, just curious. “Do you just like the color or are you trying to be Percy Jackson’s mom from <em>The Lightning Thief</em>?”</p><p>She scoffed at that, setting her fork down and thinking. “It’s a nice color. It’s actually my <em>favorite </em>color.” She admitted, which he thought was quite obvious. “And, if you don’t know, it symbolizes sensitivity, trust, inspiration, intuition, loyalty…” Eliza shrugged. “Kind of, just… all the qualities I want to embody, you know? And it’s just a nice color.”</p><p>“Oh.” Alex said, not really sure how to respond to that. The meaning of colors was interesting, <em>really </em>interesting, don’t get him wrong, but… wow. The explanation was, weirdly, a lot deeper than he’d expected it to be.</p><p>“Why’d you ask?” She inquired, clearing her throat.</p><p>“Just wondering.” He responded, shooting her a quick smile. The bell rang, alerting the staff that lunch had just ended and that recess was about to begin.</p><p>“That’s my cue to leave. I’ve got recess duty,” Eliza told him, getting up and grabbing her blazer. She patted him on the shoulder gently as she walked past him and towards the fridge, putting her salad container back on an available shelf.</p><p>“Oh, and by the way,” She said, a bit offhandedly, pulling on her blazer. “Angelica has invited us on a double date on Saturday.”</p><p>“Uh, with who?” Alex asked, blinking. In her emails, Eliza had neglected to tell him that one of her sisters was dating someone.</p><p>“Her husband, John.” Eliza responded, fixing her hair, and Alex’s mouth formed a large <em>O</em>. “Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, but it was kind of, like, <em>really </em>last minute.” She sounded a bit apologetic, and he rushed to respond.</p><p>“That’s fine,” He shrugged, getting up from his chair and putting his own lunch container in the fridge. “It sounds fun.”</p><p>(It really did. He didn’t know Angelica all that well, so hopefully, this would give him a chance to get to know Eliza’s sister a bit better.)</p><p>“Good,” She smiled, before stepping closer to him and smoothing out his wrinkled dress shirt sleeves. “Are you still planning on reading to the kids this afternoon?” Eliza asked, referring to the now almost daily trips he made to her classroom to read a story to the kindergarteners.</p><p>“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” He responded, smiling back and catching one of her hands in his, squeezing it gently.</p><p>“Ok, I’ve <em>really </em>gotta go, or else Washington will wonder where I am,” She said, cringing slightly. Alex’s eyebrows raised and he nodded understandably, watching as she hurriedly left the room.</p><p>Laurens came in a few seconds later, holding a sandwich and looking at Alex with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.</p><p>“You two are <em>so </em>disgusting together. I literally almost ran straight into your girlfriend in the hall, bro.” His friend wrinkled his nose. “And the look on her face was, just…” Laurens made a slight gagging motion with his mouth. “Get a fucking room.”</p><p>Alex clenched his jaw and stared.</p><hr/><p>Alex had thought that he’d be used to going to high-end restaurants by now, but <em>nope</em>. He was still nervous. Maybe it was the fact that Angelica kind of scared him (she was quite intimidating, although Eliza assured him that that wasn’t <em>always </em>the case), or maybe it was the fact that he had no idea what this mysterious <em>John</em>, her husband, even looked like.</p><p>Alex just wanted to make a good impression, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to do that in front of the woman he was dating, her older sister, and her husband.</p><p>At the moment, that was almost proving impossible. Angelica watched him like a hawk every time he so much as <em>glanced </em>at Eliza, and John Barker Church was droning on about some fantasy book series that Alex had absolutely no interest in.</p><p>The dinner wasn’t necessary <em>awkward</em>, but it certainly wasn’t going <em>perfectly,</em> either. Angelica had decided to adopt the overprotective older sister role and made it her mission to interrogate Alex to what seemed like no end.</p><p>“So, <em>Alexander</em>,” She said coolly, stabbing a piece of her steak with more force than Alex thought was strictly necessary. “Where’s your family from? Eliza’s told me that you, obviously, know about our family, so what about yours?”</p><p>Eliza shot her sister a glare and stealthily reached for Alex’s hand under the table. “That’s a conversation that we are absolutely <em>not </em>having tonight.” She said, her voice even.</p><p>She wasn’t <em>mad, </em>or even close to being pissed, but there was a certain edge to her voice that Alex had never heard before. (And, honestly, would never like to hear again. It gave him the impression that if he were to ever totally, <em>royally </em>fuck up, she would not forgive him so easily.)</p><p>An uncomfortable silence had settled around the table, and Alex watched as John dabbed at his mouth with the fancy white napkin. Eliza had settled on staring at her lap, and Angelica was still looking at Alex.</p><p>“I’m not, like, a criminal, if that’s what you want to know.” He said finally, ignoring the way Angelica’s mouth opened and promptly closed at that. “I study law.”</p><p>He could tell that Angelica wanted to keep going, wanted to find out just <em>who </em>exactly was dating her younger sister, but she kept her mouth shut, thankfully. Eliza released her hand from his, her knuckles white from clenching his fingers so tightly, and John broke the silence with something about <em>Game Of Thrones</em>. And, just like that, the awkwardness was gone as Eliza asked what a direwolf was.</p><p>She held his hand a bit tighter than she normally did, at the end of their dinner, when the two couples said their goodbyes.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kudos and comments make my day!</p><p>The dress Eliza wears in this chapter is the one Pippa wore to the White House. </p><p>There will probably be two or three chapters after this one. Since I originally wrote this to be a oneshot, splitting it up into chapters has been a little bit more difficult than I’d anticipated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well, this is it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He met the rest of her family in April.</p><p>Eliza had insisted on taking him up to Albany for spring break, where the Schuyler clan would be gathering for the week.</p><p>He had to admit, he was nervous. <em>Really </em>nervous. Based on his prior experience with Angelica, he was under the impression that the Schuyler family wouldn’t like him as much as Eliza clearly did. She’d frowned at that, and reassured him that he’d probably just caught her older sister on a bad day. She’d kissed him and patted his chest lightly, and Alexander <em>swore </em>he fell more in love with her.</p><p>There was only one slight problem though, kind of. He hadn’t said that yet, and neither had she. In the four months since they’d started dating, neither one had said those three little words. Of course, they had nicknames, pet names, whatever a person wanted to call it, and they used them pretty frequently.</p><p>Alex had once answered the phone with “Hi, sweetheart,” without realizing it was Laurens who’d called him. His friend had made a disgusted noise through the phone, and Alex couldn’t speak to him without being embarrassed for a week.</p><p>“It’s going to be fine, right? It’s totally going to be fine.” Alex blurted from the passenger seat as Eliza drove to the Schuyler mansion.</p><p>“Are you trying to convince <em>me</em>, or yourself?” She asked, shooting him a pointed look. He shrugged, his eyes wide.</p><p>“Look, ‘Liza,” He said. “With all due respect, you’re the one with a whole family mansion upstate, and <em>I </em>come from nothing. Who do you <em>think</em> I’m trying to convince?”</p><p>She nodded at that, clearly understanding where he was coming from. “For what it’s worth,” She said, after a few minutes of silence. “I think they’ll like you.”</p>
<hr/><p>When Eliza drove through the gates to the Schuyler family mansion, Alex thought he might <em>faint</em>.</p><p>The mansion was bigger than he anticipated. It was obviously built with the intention of housing multiple family members, and he could barely remember how many rooms Eliza said there were. The exterior of the mansion was white, with black shutters and a huge, black front door. The backyard was also large, and there was a four car garage to the left of the house.</p><p>A younger woman who Alex recognized as Eliza’s younger sister came barreling out the front door as Eliza parked the car in the driveway.</p><p>“I’ll get our stuff,” Alex muttered. “You can talk to her.”</p><p>He shot her a quick smile and she squeezed his hand before they both got out of the car. He watched, a bit awkwardly, as the sisters embraced and immediately started up a conversation. While taking their suitcases out of the trunk, he saw Eliza point in his direction, so he straightened up and waved at her sister.</p><p>She studied him, a neutral expression on her face as Alex came closer.</p><p>“So you’re the man who’s stolen my sister’s heart, huh?” She asked, shoving her hands in the pockets of her yellow hoodie.</p><p>“Come <em>on</em>, Peggy,” Eliza chided jokingly. “At least let us get inside first before you start interrogating my boyfriend.”</p><p>Alex felt his face warm up slightly upon hearing the word <em>boyfriend</em>, and handed Eliza her suitcase.</p><p>“Oh, <em>I’m </em>not interrogating him, sis.” Peggy said, shooting her sister a look as the three of them walked inside. “That’s Angelica and Papa’s job.”</p><p>He gulped.</p>
<hr/><p>The week was actually going surprisingly well so far. Alex had politely shot down any and all questions about his family or his past from Angelica, saying that it was “unimportant,” and had resolved to tell her parents the truth later, in private.</p><p>He’d told Eliza this, one night, before they drifted off to sleep to the creaks and moans that a house often made at night, and she was fine with it. She’d kissed him on the cheek and whispered a soft, “I love you,” that made Alex’s thoughts stop in their tracks and a grin spread across his face. He’d repeated the words, genuinely meaning them, and kissed her hard, and by now, there was no denying that Alexander Hamilton was head over heels in love with Elizabeth Schuyler.</p><p>He and Philip Schuyler had engaged in many great conversations, once Alex had gotten over the shock of seeing one of New York’s wealthiest men in person. They’d talked for hours about how it was possible to create a better world, how if every person did their part by recycling, or reducing, or reusing, then the world would be much better off. It was thrilling, and Alex found himself being genuinely interested in what this man had to say.</p><p>By Friday, their last full day at the mansion, he’d turned his conversation with Philip Schuyler into one that was more personal. They were sitting in lawn chairs in the backyard, enjoying the bright blue sky and the spring air, and Alex knew he had to tell this man about his upbringing. Alex had already told Catherine, Eliza’s mother, about his childhood, and the older woman had listened carefully before pulling him into a warm hug.</p><p>“Sir, I think there’s something you should know about me.” He began, and Philip offered him his full attention as Alex once again repeated the story of his childhood: how his father had left and his mother had died of cancer, how it’d been up to his brother and cousin to raise him, and how he’d gone to King’s College on a full scholarship.</p><p>“I love your daughter, I really do, and she and I have already talked about this.” Alex said. “I’ve spoken to your wife about it, too, and she’s okay with me… you know, coming from nothing, and all that. So, I’m wondering if… if you are?”</p><p>“Of course I am,” The older man said simply, and Alex thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head. “In this situation, I don’t think your past defines who you are. And I can tell that you love my daughter, and she loves you, so yes, I’m perfectly fine with it. You’re a fine man, Alexander. My Eliza should be lucky to have you.”</p><p>He breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much,” He said quickly, shaking Philip’s hand.</p><p>“If you ever come to me for anything else, son, you should know that my answer will always be <em>yes</em>.”</p><p>Alex blinked, nodded slightly, and made his way towards the house.</p><p>As he trekked across the grass, he was suddenly aware that Philip Schuyler had, for all intents and purposes, given him permission to marry his daughter.</p><p>John’s words from December came rushing back to him. <em>If this were the 1700s, you two would be <strong>engaged </strong>already.</em></p><p>He stifled a laugh as he reached the mansion. Yes, he and Eliza definitely loved each other, but he hadn’t thought of proposing to her yet! That day was still far off, he was certain.</p><p>But as he waved to her sisters and kissed her temple lightly when he ran into them in the house, he was struck by how <em>easy </em>it was to imagine spending his life with this family.</p><p>The thought should’ve scared him, he realized. But it didn’t.</p><p>He had fallen hard and fast for Eliza Schuyler, and he’d been gone since pretty much the day they’d met.</p>
<hr/><p>The rest of April and May passed uneventfully, since the school year was (finally) coming to a close. Laurens created a huge Field Day for all the students, and they spent the morning running around on the soccer field, playing dodgeball and competing various activities.</p><p>(The fourth graders won the tug-of-war competition, much to Aaron Burr’s surprise.)</p><p>The kindergarteners were sent home with no accolades under their little belts, due to the fact that the older grades had perfected the art of winning Field Day events over their years at King’s. However, they all got popsicles, which seemed like a good idea in <em>theory.</em> Alex never wanted to smell the scent of a grape popsicle ever again, or attempt to wipe the remains of a melted popsicle off of a kindergartener’s face.</p><p>He didn’t think Washington wanted to, either. The principal’s face shriveled up in horror every time a chunk of popsicle landed on the nearly trimmed grass. Laurens, however, tried to keep everyone’s energy up throughout the morning, which proved to be difficult by the end of the Field Day, because the kindergarteners all looked like they were about to fall asleep.</p><p>Honestly, Alex kind of wanted to sleep, too. He had no idea how Eliza managed to wrangle these kids every weekday.</p><p>At night, he worked steadily on finishing up the year’s report cards, often sitting on his couch with his laptop until midnight, punching in numbers until Eliza practically begged him to sleep. He’d protest, because he <em>had </em>to meet Washington’s deadlines, but he’d always eventually give in, either voluntarily or because his laptop died.</p><p>(He knew he’d finish on time, like he’d done for the past semester’s report cards, but he just really wanted to get it <em>done.</em>)</p>
<hr/><p>“Move in with me,” She blurted out one morning in June, after he’d stayed the night at her place.</p><p>Those nights were getting more and more frequent, now that school was officially out for the summer.</p><p>He almost burned the pancakes he was trying (and failing) to make, and looked up at her, his mouth open.</p><p>“Eliza, wha…” He started, stopping as she let her hands fall onto the marble countertop that she was seated in front of.</p><p>“Think about it, Alex.” She said, her voice serious. “You have a key. You have a whole bookshelf to yourself in the living room,” Eliza gestured behind her, towards the shelf of books that were a mix of ones he read about law and ones he simply read for pleasure. “There’s a dresser drawer in my bedroom that’s full of <em>your </em>clothes, and your toothbrush is right next to mine in the bathroom.”</p><p>Alex had to admit, she had a point. (Actually, she almost <em>always </em>had a point, and she was always right.)</p><p>“And, not to mention, my place is bigger than yours.” She continued. “I have a whole separate bedroom that would be easy to convert into an office for you, so you don’t work yourself to death on <em>your </em>living room couch.”</p><p>Ok, so she had another point. He’d fallen asleep on that old couch more times than he could count when he was Washington’s TA. Alex was pretty sure that his neck was permanently stiff because of it.</p><p>He slowly turned the stovetop burner off, trying to think. She watched him carefully as he chewed his lower lip, lost in thought.</p><p>“Are you… serious about this?” Alex asked finally, and she nodded in reply.</p><p>“Of course,” Eliza said, propping her elbows on the counter and placing her chin in her hands. “I mean, well..,” She continued, shrugging slightly as she watched him move around to the other side of the counter, towards the stool she was currently perched on. “You don’t have to give me an answer <em>now</em>, just th—“</p><p>“Yes.” It was a definite answer.</p><p>She blinked, clearly surprised that he’d made up his mind <em>that </em>quickly. “W-what?”</p><p>“Yes, of <em>course </em>I’ll move in with you.” Alex repeated, placing his hands on her shoulders. “Why wouldn’t I? My apartment kinda sucks, anyway.” He shrugged, watching as she registered his words.</p><p>Eliza didn’t even get up from the stool, she simply wrapped his arms around his torso and hugged him, hard.</p><p>“Thank you,” She told him, and Alex smiled, hugging back.</p><p>“Anything for my darling Betsey,” He said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.</p><p>“I love you,” She mumbled, her voice muffled by his shirt. “<em>So </em>much.”</p><p>“Me too,” He whispered. “<em>Me too</em>.”</p><p>He thought he could spend forever like this, just wrapped up in her arms in their (<em>their!</em>) apartment. It would be nice, wouldn’t it? Just the two of them, and whatever came next.</p><p>Because whatever came next should — no, <em>would </em>be very good. It would be great, he was sure of it.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>one year later</strong>
</p><p>The annual Schuyler family vacation looked a little different that year.</p><p>After a nudge from Philip Schuyler and quite a lot of persistent begging from Alex, there had been a decision to move the vacation from the family mansion in Albany to a beach house in California. The much-needed change in scenery was a welcome one, honestly.</p><p>Besides that, nothing seemed to be all that different. Yes, now there was an actual beach and ocean for them to enjoy, instead of the Schuyler’s deck and in-ground pool, and Peggy seemed to complain about getting sunburnt more than anyone else did, but the family dynamics were still the same. Angelica still watched Alex out of the corner of her eye, and Peggy was still the baby of the family. Philip Schuyler was still the calm and collected businessman that Alex had met over a year ago.</p><p>Nothing seemed to have changed drastically, except for the fact that Alex was carrying around a small velvet box in his pocket.</p><p>Philip and Catherine had given him their blessing to marry their second daughter, but with the specific instructions to keep it on the down-low. Don’t tell many friends, especially the ones who’d snitch (<em>So Lauren is a no-no</em>, Alex had thought, knowing that his friend would never shut up about it), or wind up accidentally letting it slip before the vacation was over.</p><p>So he’d quietly informed Angelica, John Church, and Peggy of the situation, and, so far, Eliza seemed none the wiser. To her, it was a normal vacation, that was all.</p><p>The large beach house wasn’t that far from the beach, and the location was fairly private, thanks to Philip Schuyler’s connections and wealth. The patio overlooked the ocean, which gave the family a great view of the sunset.</p><p>He and Eliza were the only ones sitting on the patio, on the porch swing. The deck chairs and the outdoor sofa were empty, since the rest of the family had gone indoors to “put the drinks away,” they said. Alex knew that if he turned around, he probably would’ve been able to see Peggy standing in the house, behind the screen door, mouthing at him to “get this fucking thing over with”.</p><p>“Um,” He said aloud, feeling more nervous than he though he would, “Do you remember when you hit me with that door?”</p><p>Her head whipped towards him, her dark hair almost hitting him in the face, as she scoffed. “<em>What</em>?” Eliza said, obviously holding back laughter.</p><p>“The, uh, the first day we met.” He clarified, shrugging a little, and <em>then</em> she laughed, head tilting back slightly.</p><p>“<em>Yes, </em>that—“ She tilted her head forward again as both of their bodies shook from silent laughter.</p><p>“<em>That </em>was eventful.” Alex finished, as they both recovered from their fit of laughter and watched the waves hit the beach. “I don’t— I don’t regret any of it, though.”</p><p>“Me neither.” Eliza said quietly, a small smile forming on her lips.</p><p>“So, recently, I was slowing down and thinking—“</p><p>“You <em>never </em>slow down,” She responded jokingly, her smile growing wider. It was true, after all. She had a point.</p><p>“I really don’t, you’re right.” Alex suppressed his laughter. “I did slow down for this, though.”</p><p>“Anyway, after some thinking, I guess I realized that I just want to spend the foreseeable future like this.” He admitted, and <em>that </em>got her attention. Eliza turned her head away from the beach and looked at him, eyes a little wider than normal and her smile fading slightly. “Like, not <em>here</em>, on this beach, but, um— with you.”</p><p>“<em>Alexander.</em>” She said, her voice a little shaky as she shifted her body towards his. “You…” The words died in her throat as Alex pulled the box out from one of the pockets of his khaki shorts.</p><p>“Liza,” He began, the box still shut and his fingers pressed around the velvet exterior. “I am deeply, ridiculously in love with you. You are, without a doubt, the most important person in my life, and I really, truly want to spend the rest of my life with you.”</p><p>He stood up. As soon as he’d gotten up off of the porch swing, Eliza had gotten to her feet, too.</p><p>“Elizabeth Schuyler,” Alex said, getting down onto one knee and opening the box. “Will you—“</p><p>“Yes.” There was no hesitation, no wavering, no doubt in her voice. Just pure happiness, and— well, maybe there <em>was </em>some wavering in her voice, Alex decided. But her voice only wavered because she looked like she was about to cry.</p><p>(Out of happiness, thankfully.)</p><p>Alex cocked his head to the side, eyebrows raising slightly, as he looked up at his girlfriend, whose eyes were now bright and shining with unshed tears. “You didn’t let me finish the question,” He joked, and she scoffed, but it sounded more like a happy sob.</p><p>“Ok— well, finish it!” Eliza demanded, gesturing towards the open box and the ring that sat inside it.</p><p>“Will you marry me?” He asked again, and she nodded as he got to his feet and kissed her.</p><p>If he listened hard enough, and ignored the crashing of the waves down on the beach, he thought he could hear Peggy’s bare feet echoing against the polished wood floors of the beach house as she jumped up and down. The whole family was probably watching.</p><p>That suspicion was confirmed when he heard Peggy whoop loudly, causing him and Eliza to break off their kiss and turn their heads towards the screen doors, where they saw the Schuyler family watching.</p><p>“Damn,” Alex said quietly, in shock. “You’d think that after spending enough time with your family, I’d be able to gauge their reactions, but I… was not expecting that.”</p><p>He turned his head back towards his fiancée (<em>fiancée!</em>), who looked equally shocked.</p><p>“You never really know what to expect from them.” Eliza shrugged, as he slid the ring onto her finger and began to walk towards the beach house.</p><p> “I just hope my mother hasn’t passed out.” She commented, as they reached the screen doors. Alex winced slightly at the thought of Catherine Schuyler passing out, but the thought was soon interrupted by the screaming of the two other Schuyler sisters when they stepped inside.</p><p>He watched, a small smile on his face, as the three sisters jumped around like silly teenagers before Angelica and Peggy demanded to see the ring.</p><p>A hand patted his shoulder. Alex turned to see Philip Schuyler standing next to him, the same content smile on his face, as he watched his daughters.</p><p>“Welcome to the family, son.” He said, and Alex smiled wider, a bit embarrassed.</p><p>“Thank you.” He nodded politely, and thanked John Church when he handed him some champagne.</p><p>Alex exhaled. He was happy and content. He really liked his life and where he’d ended up.</p><p>He belonged to this family.</p>
<hr/><p>
  <strong>six years after that</strong>
</p><p>“Philip Hamilton, get back here right now!”</p><p>“You didn’t say <em>please</em>, mommy. Didn’t you tell me to always say <em>please</em>?” The five-year-old asked, turning around to look at his mother.</p><p>“Yes, but—“ Eliza pinched the bridge of her nose. This kid was <em>so </em>exhausting sometimes; he definitely had Alex’s genes in him. “But I’m your mom, and I really don’t think I should have to say <em>please</em> when you’re <em>running in a parking lot</em>.”</p><p>Philip groaned and shook his head, his dark brown curls flying everywhere. “But <em>Daddy </em>runs in parking lots.”</p><p>“<em>Daddy </em>has places to be, and not enough time to get to those places.” She responded. She <em>really </em>needed to talk to her husband about setting a good example and being a good role model for their child later. “And he shouldn’t be running, either.”</p><p>Eliza grabbed Philip’s hand and decided not to let go until they’d reached the sidewalk.</p><p>The entrance to King’s Elementary stood before them, and Eliza let the memories rush back to her. She hadn’t worked as a teacher here in a little more than five years, having gone on maternity leave with Philip and never coming back. He’d been sick as a baby, and Alex was always busy, working part time as the school secretary and as a lawyer, so Eliza had politely asked Washington if she could leave. For good.</p><p>Alex had left, too, a year after she did. His true passion was law, he’d decided, and it was what he’d gone to college to study in the first place. Washington was fine with it, obviously, citing the fact that he probably <em>did </em>need a more stable job now that he had a kid to take care of.</p><p>Now, two out of three Hamiltons were back at the school, for a tour. If all went well, which it most likely would, Eliza hoped, Philip would be attending King’s Elementary in the fall.</p><p>She and her son made her way up the concrete steps to the front doors of the school. But before she could ring the bell and ask to be let in, her phone rang. Eliza dug her phone out of pocket, politely shushed her son, and answered the call.</p><p>“Heyyy, Bets.” Her husband’s tired voice rang through the phone.</p><p>“Alexander.” She replied, gritting her teeth slightly as she watched Philip kick the concrete step. “Honey, have you been working overtime again? You sound exhausted.”</p><p>“Only a little, I promise.” He reassured her, but she wasn’t all that convinced. “I stayed at the office for an extra hour yesterday.”</p><p>Hm. Eliza bent down slightly to stop Philip from kicking the step <em>again</em>. “Behave yourself, buddy. If you keep doing that, your foot is <em>really </em>going to hurt.”</p><p>“Where are you?” Alex asked, and she could picture the slightly confused, yet amused, expression on his face <em>so </em>clearly.</p><p>“We’re at King’s,” She replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Pip is taking a tour with me, and then we’re going home to pack for Albany.”</p><p>“Can’t wait for that,” He responded, and she could hear the smile in his voice. “Philip hasn’t seen Peggy in <em>forever</em>.”</p><p>Their son had formed a strong bond with one of his aunts, and soon, the family would be taking their annual week-long vacation to the Schuyler mansion. They were excited.</p><p>“I’m heading home now,” He continued, and Eliza could hear his car door slam. “Talk to you later, yeah? Love you.”</p><p>“Love you,” She responded, ignoring Philip’s expression of disgust upon hearing his parents be, in his own words, “<em>gross</em>”.</p><p>“Oh, and ‘Liza?” Alex said suddenly, like a thought had just now popped into his brain.</p><p>(Which it probably did. Her husband’s thoughts seemed to be racing at a thousand miles per hour, sometimes.)</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Don’t let Philip run into a door.” He said, and she could picture his smirk. “It worked out well for me, but I don’t know if I’d be able to say the same for him.”</p><p>She laughed. “Will do, Mr. Hamilton.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you all enjoyed this story. This was my first time writing Hamilton fic since 2016(!), if you can believe it. The release of the film really reignited my love for these two.</p><p>A little explanation for me not updating for like a week: I got very busy, graduated, and attended Phillipa’s Zoom last Friday. It was super fun and made me momentarily forget about updating! And if anyone else is attending the Ham4Change livestream in a few hours, I will also be there, LOL.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Work title comes from “Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling” from the musical Next to Normal.</p><p>(Also, yes, their last names are both in my username. 2016 me was obsessed.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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